RESUMO
The fungus Pneumocystis spp. causes Pneumocystis pneumonia in immunocompromised mammals including humans, whereas healthy individuals are often colonized and can transmit it to others. There is little evidence that Pneumocystis spp. is also present outside mammalian species. We describe the first detection of Pneumocystis DNA from the lungs and air sacs of laying hens from deep litter and floor husbandry systems. The DNA from chickens' lungs and air sacs was amplified with a Pneumocystis-specific mtLSU rRNA gene nested PCR and sequenced. Pneumocystis DNA was detected in 20 of 111 (18.0%) hens. The DNA sequences showed specific differences to all known Pneumocystis mtLSU sequences. In induced sputum samples of 2 of 7 farm workers at this poultry farm, human Pneumocystis jirovecii strains without these mutations were detected; therefore, a transmission between chickens and farm workers appears implausible.
Assuntos
Galinhas/microbiologia , Reservatórios de Doenças/veterinária , Pneumocystis/isolamento & purificação , Doenças das Aves Domésticas/microbiologia , Sacos Aéreos/microbiologia , Criação de Animais Domésticos , Animais , Sequência de Bases , DNA Fúngico/genética , DNA Fúngico/isolamento & purificação , Feminino , Pulmão/microbiologia , Anotação de Sequência Molecular , Reação em Cadeia da Polimerase/veterinária , RNA/genética , RNA Fúngico/genética , RNA Mitocondrial , RNA Ribossômico/genéticaRESUMO
We investigated the effects of the anti-malarials mefloquine and primaquine against the juvenile and adult life stages of Schistosoma mansoniin vitro. Cercariae were incubated with 0.5 µg/ml, 1 µg/ml and 2 µg/ml mefloquine or primaquine and with 1 µg/ml praziquantel for 12h. Schistosomula, pre-adults and adults were incubated with 0.5 µg/ml, 1 µg/ml and 2 µg/ml mefloquine or primaquine and with 1 µg/ml praziquantel for 7 days. The viability status was classified as viable, damaged or dead and was checked every 3h for cercariae and every 12h for schistosomula, pre-adults and adults. Both, mefloquine and primaquine show time and dose-dependent schistosomicidal effects on the four life stages of S. mansoni. The promising in vitro effects on all stages of the blood fluke S. mansoni warrants further evaluation of both anti-malarials and their derivatives for their prophylactic and therapeutic values in early and late schistosomiasis in field trials.